


Everything Shimmers With You

by ericsonclan



Series: Ericson's Diner AU [53]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Lights, College, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:55:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28076562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Tenn takes Mariana on a walk so he can ask her an important question.
Relationships: Mariana García/Tenn
Series: Ericson's Diner AU [53]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688374
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Everything Shimmers With You

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

The snow crunching underneath Tenn’s boots was a comforting sound as he made his way to the library. Another semester had passed and with it he was one step closer to graduation. He could hear Sophie’s voice in his head, knowing exactly what she would say when he visited her and Minnie for Christmas. “How in the world have you gotten even taller? It’s not fair – 20 years old and still growing!” then she’d pinch his cheek lovingly and sit him down to a Christmas feast with enough calories to make him grow a couple more inches. He was excited to come home for the holidays, but there was something he needed to do first before he left.

Turning the corner, Tenn saw the library, its lights still welcoming and warm even though it was closed for the evening. No one was around anymore, everyone having returned to their dorms likely to keep studying for that last exam or two they had the coming day. Tenn had been lucky in that his exams were stacked on the first few days of this week. Perhaps it was unlucky before when he had to cram for hours on end but now he was done early and he could spend his time doing other things, first and foremost of those things: meeting up with the pretty Cuban girl who sat waiting for him on the library steps.

“Hey, Mari,” Tenn’s voice was soft as always as he smiled down at his girlfriend and offered her a hand up. “Aren’t you cold sitting on the steps like that?”

“Tenn!” Mariana’s face brightened at the sight of him. She immediately took Tenn’s hand, standing up and pulling him into a long, warm hug. “Nah, I’m fine. I only locked up the library about five minutes ago so I haven’t been sitting long,” She stepped down the stairs with her boyfriend, smiling as she squeezed his hand. “So… how did exams go? Do you think you aced them?”

“Well, I don’t know about ‘aced’,” Tenn murmured, looking down at the ground shyly, “But I know I did well on all of them and that’s thanks to you. I would never have passed trigonometry without your help,”

“What good is having a girlfriend with an in at the library if she can’t help you cram for exams?” Mari replied with a wink. “Thank goodness that part of my life is over, at least for now. I still have exam burnout from my college days!”

Tenn smiled at Mariana as she continued, reminiscing about her own time in college as they walked along the frozen pathway together. He still couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to date her. To think that asking for help tracking down a book of Van Gogh’s illustrations would lead to a relationship that had been going strong for almost an entire semester now… he was so lucky. He knew he’d get a lot of teasing from his sisters and sister-in law when he got home about dating an older woman, but he was certain that as soon as they met Mariana they’d love her as much as he did.

That was what he was planning to ask this night: for Mari to come home with him for the holidays. Perhaps it was moving a bit fast and he certainly wasn’t giving her much time to decide or pack for the trip, but over the past week as Tenn had thought of leaving campus and not seeing Mariana for the entire winter break, the more that idea had become completely unbearable to him. Then the perfect solution had come to him: take her home. He wanted Mariana to meet his family and for them to see how much she meant to him. Now he just had to hope that she would say yes.

It was a few minutes of walking before they reached one of the campus coffee shops. Popping inside, the two of them walked to the counter hand-in-hand. Mariana placed their orders, already knowing Tenn’s by heart: earl grey tea with a splash of cream and a drizzle of honey. With Tenn’s tea and Mari’s cinnamon latte in hand, the pair left the café and headed toward their true destination.

Mariana took a sip of her drink, letting out a tiny sigh of happiness at the taste. She caught Tenn smiling at her and paused in her second sip. “What?”

“Nothing, just… I love when you do that,”

“Do what?”

“That little sound you make right after taking your first sip. It’s cute,”

“Huh. I never noticed before,” Mariana looked at her drink in curiosity before sipping it again. “You pick up on details so well. I guess it comes with being an artist,”

“Maybe,” Tenn shrugged. “It’s not really anything special,”

“Ah ah ah,” Mariana scolded, gently nudging Tenn’s shoulder. “There you go again underselling yourself. That’s another compliment you owe the compliment jar!”

Tenn nodded good-naturedly, smiling at the thought. Mariana had started the practice of the compliment jar a few months ago. Every time Tenn said anything self-deprecating or effacing, she would make him write a compliment about himself to put in the compliment jar. Then whenever Mari caught him feeling down, she would bring out the compliment jar and read compliments he had written to himself until Tenn was smiling again. It was one of the things Tenn loved about Mariana best: her ability to always bring joy.

Finally, they had reached their destination. Along the walkway that led from Cook Hall all the way down to the Egret dorms, lights had wrapped around the trunks of the trees that lined the path and interspersed amongst their branches. The effect was magical: the air itself seemed to glow with an almost ethereal quality and in the calm of night with the smallest wisps of snow floating down from above, it felt as though they had the entire world to themselves. It was a walk they had gotten into the habit of taking together at least a few times each week, wanting to enjoy the magical atmosphere for as long as it would last.

Hand in hand, the pair walked along in silence, taking in the beauty that surrounded them. Tenn felt a sort of nervous excitement thrumming within him alongside the usual calm that the walk inspired. Mariana was completely enraptured by their surroundings, taking it all in with wide eyes. Most of the campus was asleep or indoors at this hour and the sprinkling of snow that had come down earlier in the evening had left the path fresh and unmarked, their footsteps the only trace of life along the trail.

“It gets me every time,” Mariana murmured, a smile on her lips as she took in the beauty around them.

“Me too,” Tenn readjusted his hold on Mari’s hand, his woolen gloves not quite enough to keep out the cold of the night.

Mari smiled up at her boyfriend. “I bet it snows even more than this in West Virginia, huh?”

“Yeah, it snows quite a bit. One winter we got such a heavy snow that the power lines in our district came down and school got cancelled for the next three days. Power was out at the place my sisters worked too, so we all got to stay at home together and binge movies while we drank tons of hot cocoa. That was the exception though, not a regular winter,”

“I bet you watched  _ Into the Spiderverse  _ about a hundred times during your days off,” Mariana said with a grin.

She knew him well. Tenn smiled shyly and nodded. “Yeah. I bet my sisters were sick of it, but Sophie was mostly focused on her drawing and Minnie was working on a special song for my sister-in-law Renata so neither seemed to mind,”

“Your sisters always sound so cool. I hope I get to meet them sometime, maybe if they drive up here for a visit,”

“Actually…” Tenn stopped in his tracks, causing Mariana to come to a halt too, “I was thinking you could meet them sooner than that. Like next week,” Clearing his throat, Tenn mustered all of his courage for the next part. “Mari, would you like to come home for the holidays with me? I know it’s a lot to ask and I should have thought of it earlier and maybe it’s too soon, but, but I really want you to meet my family. My sisters and parents and niece and nephews, everybody. So… do you want to?”

Mariana looked up at Tenn with large eyes, silently taking everything in. As he kept talking though, her smile grew and grew so when he finished his question she was already sure of her answer. “Yes!”

“R-really?”

“Yes really! I would love to come home with you!” Bouncing onto her tiptoes, Mariana captured her boyfriend’s lips in a quick kiss. “I’ll have to let my uncles and brother know that I won’t be around as much as we’d originally planned, but I know they’ll be happy that I’m going too. You know how much they love you!”

Javi and Santiago were exceedingly fond of Tenn. And they teased the couple practically every time they saw them, so Tenn had developed a thick enough skin to handle the upcoming teasing at home. Gabe might be a little peeved that Mari was being whisked away on such short notice, but his wife Nurgul was sure to calm him down and get him to forgive Tenn. If things went as Tenn anticipated, perhaps next year it wouldn’t be just Mari but her entire family visiting his come Christmas time.

Taking both of Mariana’s hands in his, Tenn squeezed them gladly, looking upon her with adoration. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you said yes,”

“It means as much as it means to me that you asked,” Mariana lightly swung their hands back and forth, still giddy with joy. “Crap, I gotta go home and pack! You’re leaving tomorrow, right?”

“The day after tomorrow. Again, sorry for the short notice-”

“Enough of that,” Mariana tutted. “That’s plenty of time to pack. I’ll just do a quick run to the corner store for essentials tomorrow and I’ll be all set. I should get home though! I have laundry to do, gotta dig my suitcase out of storage, ask Gabe to feed the guinea pigs…” As she listed off things Mariana began to walk, heading faster towards her car where their walk always ended. Tenn followed along in silence, listening happily to the list and adding in his own additions to what she should pack.

By the time they reached her car, Mariana had a pretty good idea of everything she would need before she headed out with Tenn. Opening the car door, Mariana turned around to give Tenn one last kiss. It was a slow, sweet one, both of them lingering in the moment. Mariana pulled away softly, her eyes fluttering back open as she smiled up at her boyfriend. “I guess I’ll see you soon then. I’ll probably text you before I see you again for more packing details,”

“Sounds good to me,” Tenn agreed, nodding softly.

Mariana bit her lip as if unsure if she should say what she wanted to next. “I’m so glad you asked me. Not only cause it’s a step forward and all that, but… I would have missed you like crazy over winter break. It’s all I’ve been thinking of this past week,”

A small chuckle escaped Tenn’s lips. “I was thinking the same thing,”

“Really?”

Yes, really,”

Going up on her tiptoes once more, Mariana gave Tenn a quick kiss on the cheek, leaning in to whisper in his ear. “I love you, Tennessee,”

A shiver ran down Tenn’s spine at her words. “I love you too, Mariana,”

“I’ll see you soon,” Giving Tenn’s hand one final squeeze, Mariana got into her car and slowly drove off, waving back at him until her car rolled out of sight.

Tenn waved back as long as he could, only lowering his arm when he was sure she was out of sight. A bright warmth filled the entirety of his being; she had said yes. He was taking Mari home for the holidays. Heading back toward his dorm, Tenn found himself unable to hold back the grin upon his face. It was going to be a truly magical Christmas.


End file.
